


A Long Winter

by Pegasus143



Series: New Jericho Tower Shorts [5]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Ableism, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human), Anti-Cop, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autistic Character, Bigotry & Prejudice, Child Murder, Deaf Character, Domestic Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gay Character, Gen, Learning Disabilities, Lesbian Character, Mentions of underage molestation, Muslim Character, Mystery, Original Character-centric, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Sexism, Siblings, Simon (Detroit: Become Human) Backstory, Surveillance, Trans Character, Transphobia, Worldbuilding, but there's no islamophobia, discussion of sexual violence, mainly, mention of drugs, mention of menstruation, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27435163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasus143/pseuds/Pegasus143
Summary: Gabriel is the daughter of Cyberlife's CEO -- which means that Cyberlife (and her mom) are present in her every waking moment. Her only hope is to finish her last year of high school, and then leave for college with her best friend, Amira. When Cole Anderson dies and an old friend is released from prison, her dream of escape comes crashing down.
Series: New Jericho Tower Shorts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682923
Comments: 8
Kudos: 3
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic deals with some serious subject matter. Please read the tags for more details, if you haven't already. Otherwise, I really hope you enjoy my OCs, because I've spent ages on them and the Banned Together Bingo actually pushed me into gear to actually write about them.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square for Chapter One: "Biased" (Accurate) History

**Prompt: Discuss how the study of population demographics has been used in a real-world setting, including the effects of collecting and using these data.** ~~< \- is “data” plural now? Whatever, I’m getting distracted ~~

Cyberlife and the Development of Teaching Androids Via Population Demography

By: Gabriel Graham

After ~~my mom~~ Courtney Graham ~~ousted my uncle~~ was appointed as the CEO of Cyberlife in 2028 by ~~her allies~~ the company’s board of directors, she ~~formally gave names to, even though they already existed~~ created several new departments. One of these was the ~~Surveillance and Mind-Control~~ Population Demography department, a shared sub-group of both Marketing and Research & Development. ~~I hate knowing all of this.~~

The aim of the Population Demography department is to ~~manipulate the population~~ forecast trends in demographics in order to better inform marketing campaigns and the development of new products. These strategies have helped to greatly increase Cyberlife’s profits, leading to it being well on the way to becoming a trillion-dollar company.

One specific trend ~~orchestrated~~ predicted by Cyberlife’s demographers was the baby boom of 2029. This led to the development of many products targeted at improving the lives of young families, including improvements in domestic androids’ ~~child surveillance~~ childcare programming, the development of some of the first ~~nurse and midwife replacements~~ healthcare androids, and the development of teaching androids.

In order to provide a field model for Cyberlife’s teaching androids, a private middle and high school were created and funded by the company. Several high-ranking employees ~~including my mom, Noah’s dad, and some of the other Cyberlife directors and department heads~~ sent their children to the school in order to encourage the public to ~~blindly follow~~ better trust in the idea. Members of the public were able to apply for their children to gain entrance into the school ~~and had to give away a bunch of information about themselves to do so, which Cyberlife definitely kept somewhere, because apparently privacy laws just don’t apply to them~~. Some families were given priority admission due to being a minority in some demographic ~~characteristic? Trait?~~ grouping ~~like how Amira and her brother got in because she’s deaf, and how Aiden got in because he’s a foster kid~~. Other families were admitted through a lottery system to fill the remaining available space.

Some of the newest domestic androids, such as ~~Simon~~ the PL600, produced record sales. Healthcare androids helped drastically lower the rates of complications in pregnancy and childbirth ~~and if those papers weren’t so hard to get through, I would’ve read them and probably found something suspicious there, too.~~ The biggest success was the android-run secondary schools ~~probably because of bias in the selection process~~ , which led to the opening of an android-run elementary school and the expansion of android use for teaching in schools across the country. The use of population demographics has enabled Cyberlife to create one of the most ~~tax-inducing and union-avoiding~~ successful and generation-shaping technologies. ~~That means there’s androids in homes, stores, fire departments, schools, hospitals -- places where basically everyone goes. You can’t avoid them. Cyberlife’s even backing legislation against homeschooling. What’s next, the cops?~~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt for this chapter: Lesbians

**September 2035**

Gabriel made her way through the cafeteria, balancing her lunch tray as she threw her crumpled-up essay in the trash before sitting down. Across from her, Amira pulled her lunch bag out of her backpack before slipping her own essay into an orange folder, Gabriel only catching a glimpse of her pristine handwriting. She actually wrote on paper every day, while Gabriel only did so when she needed to for class to “prevent cheating”. Like their android teachers couldn’t just monitor what they were doing on their school-issued tablets. Gabriel remembered when she’d tried to install games on her tablet in their first year here so she’d have something to do while she sat by herself at lunch. It turned out they weren’t allowed to do that, but then Amira had found her and invited Gabriel to sit with her and her brother, Karim. He was a year older than them and had already graduated.

Amira finished writing something in her pink planner before putting it away in her backpack. “The cross-country season got cancelled because of the weather,” she signed, bringing Gabriel’s attention to this week’s nail polish – a gold color that made her copper skin glow, just like the fire that burned inside her. Amira seemed to have limitless passion about _everything_ she did.

“You’re kidding!” Gabriel signed, shocked. She’d been looking forward to cheering Amira on in at least a _couple_ more meets.

Amira shrugged. “I’ll still be able to run track in the spring. I can spend more time working on the newspaper, and get a good story out of this. I might even be able to make some GSA meetings!”

_Oh no._ Gabriel rolled her eyes in a fond manner. “You’re not going to convince me to come.”

“Why not?” Amira signed, giving a fake pout.

“You know why.” _It’s a school-sponsored activity, which means it’s supervised by my mom’s minions. They’d hand over any information on me to her at a moment’s notice._

“Really? My own brother never went, and now my best friend? Can a poor lesbian not get any support?” Her signs were exaggerated, clearly sarcastic.

Gabriel instinctively looked over Amira’s shoulder at the door where the usual monitor-droid stood. Except… _Where is he?_

One of their classmates walked by, waving to Amira to catch her attention before she held up her cell phone and gave her a questioning look. Amira nodded, pulling out her phone and turning it on. They weren’t allowed to have phones on in class because it would “disrupt android functioning”, but obviously everyone using them in the cafeteria was _perfectly_ fine.

Amira tapped out a quick message before setting her phone down, screen to the table. “She wants to write an article about your mom for the paper… _again_.” Then she must’ve seen something in Gabriel’s expression. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

Gabriel shook her head. “No, it’s not that. The droid isn’t there.” She pointed to the cafeteria doors.

Amira turned around and looked before turning back to Gabriel. “That’s weird. Maybe the droid needed maintenance?”

Gabriel shook her head. “My dad showed me some of the staff-only areas once… they have extras for that.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, but it wasn’t like there was anything she could do about it. “Where were we?” she signed before pushing some stray strands of her long hair behind her ear.

“You not coming to GSA with me.”

Gabriel looked over at the door again. _Still no monitor-droid._ And he was the only one who had a direct line of sight to the two of them. “You remember what happened when Aiden came out as gay – were we in sophomore year? It got spread all over on accident! I just want to live my life in peace.”

“You could still come to the meetings. You don’t have to say you’re trans – you could just say you’re a lesbian.”

Gabriel shook her head. _Anything that could get back to Mom… well, it wouldn’t be good news for me._ “Did Aiden keep coming after everything died down?”

“He did…” Amira’s hands froze as she thought of something. “Last winter – maybe after break? – he stopped coming.”

_If he went for that long, he must’ve liked going._ “Do you know why he stopped?”

Amira shook her head, a pained expression on her face. “No. He stopped hanging out with Karim as much. They made up over the summer, and it wasn’t the same for a couple weeks, but I think they’re back to normal now.” Her phone buzzed. She picked it up, smiling, before showing the screen to Gabriel. “Look what Karim found for me!”

It was a photoset of some dresses that were definitely Amira’s style – simple, modest cuts with _lots_ of detailing. Attention to detail was Amira’s specialty – even her nail polish coordinated with the gold buttons on her jean jacket and the touch of gold glitter on her floral-printed hijab. Then Gabriel remembered what time it was. “Did Karim just send this to you? I thought he’d be working. It’s lunchtime.”

“It must be slow today. That’s been happening more often,” Amira signed, setting her phone back down.

_That can’t be good for business… I know her family’s restaurant has been open for thirty years, but I’m not sure that means anything now, with androids. I wish I could do something, sabotage Cyberlife from the inside like in the movies… but that would still hurt a lot of Detroit, and pretty soon Milwaukee – it’s one of the only reliable places where people can find jobs._

The bell rang, bringing Gabriel out of her thoughts. “Bell,” she signed to Amira before picking up her tray. Amira gave her a surprised look, but proceeded to do the same. Even though all the androids at the school used ASL with Amira, that was about the only thing the school did to accommodate her – sometimes Gabriel wondered how she could still have so much trust in people when they seemed to be failing her constantly. _But her optimism – I think that’s why I like her._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo square for this chapter: Prisoners with Info

**October 2035**

Gabriel stamped her feet on the rug inside the front door, trying to get the snow off her boots. _Can’t believe it’s so snowy and icy already… it’s only October… I hope this at least clears up by Halloween so Amber can go trick-or-treating. If she wants to, that is… I don’t think I was still going when I was nine._

Simon emerged from the kitchen, carrying a steaming pot. Just by looking at him, you wouldn’t think anything was out of the ordinary – you’d think he was just a guy with “kind” eyes who spoke in a soft “British” accent with an endless amount of patience who worked for Gabriel’s family. That is, until he turned his head in just the right way so you saw the round LED on the side of it. Currently, it was its usual pale blue, but sometimes it would turn yellow when he was listening to you or doing something.

“Simon, what time is it?” Gabriel asked, unzipping her coat. She frowned a little as the zipper got stuck on the sweatshirt she had on underneath it.

“It’s currently 6:28 PM.”

_Shoot._ “Thanks.” She finally yanked the zipper down, dropping her coat on the floor and stepping out of her boots before running up to Amber’s room. “Amber,” she said, knocking on the door. “Supper’s in two minutes.” She pressed an ear against the door, satisfied when she heard a light thump and a set of footsteps coming towards it. _I don’t want you to get hurt._

Amber opened the door, an arm awkwardly crossed so it covered her chest. Her cheeks were rosy and tear-stained, and her blonde hair fell past her shoulders in messy waves, like she hadn’t taken care of it.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Gabriel said, trying to sound reassuring. _Simon’s so much better at this._ “I’ll do your hair, then you’ll splash water on your face. Then we’ll go down to supper.” _Hopefully we’ll be on time. I don’t think she could handle getting yelled at right now._

Amber nodded, slowly removing her arm from across her chest. _I hope she’s not in pain or something… I’d better try and keep an eye on her during supper. If anything seems off with her breathing, I’ll tell Simon. Otherwise… it’s probably not worth the trouble._

After brushing Amber’s hair, she left for the bathroom to splash water on her face. _There’s a notebook on the floor… she must’ve knocked it down when she came to answer the door._ Gabriel picked it up. Her eyes were drawn to the words on the page, written in Amber’s neat, defined printing that made the whole thing just a little bit easier to read.

_Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a beautiful garden of roses. There was also a girl who adored the princess, and wanted to be just like her and to be with her forever. The day the magical roses finally let her into the garden, she was truly happy. Meanwhile, her younger sister, who also adored the princess, believed the garden was actually a prison. She had been pricked by a rose when she was very young, and it had caused her an immense pain that everyone else ignored._

* * *

It was 6:30 on the dot when they entered the dining room, their parents already seated and the table prepared for the meal. Simon was just leaving the room, giving the family “privacy” as Gabriel’s mom always requested.

She slipped into her seat, realizing just how hungry she was as she dished a helping of mashed potatoes onto her plate. She passed the bowl to Amber, giving her a small smile. _Just get through this meal, okay? That’s all I’m asking of you. That’s all I’ve ever done._

Their mom spoke in a cold voice, matching her rigid posture and the tight bun she usually pulled her hair into, not a single blonde strand out of place. “I spoke with Noah’s father today. They’re going to provide him with an apartment and a limited allowance after his release in February. They should have kept a closer eye on him earlier to keep him out of trouble, gotten an android when I suggested it.” _Amira’s family doesn’t do things like that… and her and Karim don’t get in trouble…_

“What about contact?” Their dad asked, sparing a quick glance at Gabriel and Amber.

“Oh, I didn’t ask, but I’m sure they’ll limit that, too.” _I’m sure they won’t. It was just last year that everyone wanted me to date him…._

Amber gave Gabriel a confused look. The girls had been told about Noah’s one-year sentence on drug charges, but did Amber really understand? Did most nine-year-olds understand that sort of thing? _I don’t know whether I want her to or not._

“Noah shouldn’t cause any problems with Cyberlife. I’ll remove his father from the Board of Directors if he does.”

_It was never a problem with Cyberlife for him._

* * *

**Ten Years Ago**

“5-B,” Gabriel said, smiling. Battleship was one of the only games that could keep her attention, even though she was seven and should’ve been able to concentrate on things. At least, that’s what the guidance counselor at school had said… until her parents had come in for a meeting, and the counselor suddenly stopped saying things like that….

Noah groaned, leaning his head back and almost banging it against one of the legs of the table they were sitting under. “You. Sunk. My. Battleship.”

Gabriel giggled as she slid her tablet towards him, eager to show him the locations of her remaining ships.

“You sound like a girl when you laugh like that,” he said, not even bothering to look at her tablet.

“I’ve gotta tell you a secret,” Gabriel said, practically bouncing in place. She remembered to glance over at her parents – they were distracted, smiling as they talked with Noah’s parents while being served refreshments by the family android, one of the blonde girls that her uncle always called “Chloe”. Her parents kept reminding her that Chloe wasn’t really a girl, but she refused to believe that. If they didn’t think _Chloe_ was a girl, when she looked like one…

“What’s the secret?” Noah whispered.

Right. Whispering. She could do that. “I…I _am_ a girl.”

He looked at her funny. “But you look like a boy,” he said, continuing to whisper. “You’ve got short hair, and you don’t wear dresses.”

“My uncle Elijah has long hair, and he’s a boy, so why can’t girls have short hair? Besides, I wanna grow it out anyways. And I’ve worn dresses before… from Mom’s closet, when I can get away from our android…”

“Oh.” He uncrossed his legs, pulling his knees up to his chin instead and resting his arms on them. “Wait a sec… so if you’re a girl… does that mean you’re gonna wanna kiss me?” He asked urgently.

She hadn’t thought about that. “Uh… I don’t think so. That seems gross.”

“Okay, good. I don’t want Mom and Dad to think…”

“I don’t know how I’m gonna tell them,” Gabriel said, looking at her own parents. They were clinking together funny-looking glasses with a bubbly drink in them. Her mom always looked so pretty in the dresses she wore to stuff like this, and she was always so happy, laughing and drinking and dancing.

“I dunno… with words?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she said, sticking her little finger in her mouth and working at the nail with her teeth, her stomach suddenly feeling like she shouldn’t have sneaked so many olives from the kitchen earlier.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said suddenly.

“Do what?” she asked, pulling her finger out of her mouth.

“Bite your nails. You don’t want your parents to yell at you, right?”

She nodded, bouncing her knee instead. She just wanted to get this over with, to let them know, so she could stop feeling this way.

* * *

“It’s 7:15 PM,” Simon said, entering the dining room to clear away the meal.

_Shoot… did I really space out that whole time?_ Her plate was still practically full, and she was still hungry. _I hate this._ She blinked back the start of tears.

Amber grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the dining room and back upstairs. _Amber… I forgot to keep track… I just don’t want her to be hurt or anything… but if something’s happened, Simon would’ve noticed it, right? That’s what he’s here for._

At this point, she just had to hope that she’d make it to tomorrow morning. One thing at a time, like always.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Cops as Pigs

**November 2035**

_I just have to find an article for that current events report… or I could watch the news instead._ Gabriel smiled to herself as she contemplated her last homework assignment for the night. _It’s not like we’re going to be asked to give them an actual print article, and it still counts, right?_ She flopped down on the couch, throwing her tablet on the armrest next to her, where she used to snuggle up next to her dad and watch cartoons with him as a kid. “TV on.”

The TV flipped itself on to KNC where a balding man was just finishing up a news report. _“The Canadian parliament has once again voted to postpone their decision on whether or not to allow androids in the country. Their leaders cite a lack of data on use of the drug ‘red ice’ and its affects as one of the reasons for postponement, though Canada’s GDP and other measures of economic productivity have continued to fall far below that of the US.”_ He paused – not to take a breath, but for the listener, like he could speak forever. _“Now to Rosanna Cartland for our next story.”_

_“Thanks, Dave.”_ A blonde woman wearing a dark blue dress that reminded Gabriel of Amber’s eyes appeared on the screen. _“It’s been only a few weeks since Cole Anderson – son of Hank Anderson, the youngest officer in the Detroit Police Department’s history to have been promoted to Lieutenant – passed away.”_ An image of a damaged car appeared on the screen with the license plate blurred out. Gabriel recognized its boxy shape and bright metallic finish easily – it was a self-driving car, just like the one her family owned.

_“Family and friends we spoke to at Cole’s memorial described him as a ‘very special little boy’.”_ A picture of Cole appeared on the screen. _“Boys with autism, like Cole, exhibit symptoms such as rigid or repetitive forms of socialization, lack of emotional affect, few or no friendships, distracting or disruptive behaviors, difficulty being around bright lights or loud noises, restricted interests, and strict adherence to routines. In Cole’s memory, the Detroit Police Department announced a ten-million-dollar budget proposal for 2036 that would include special training for police officers in interacting with children with autism.”_

“TV off!” _There’s no way you need that much money to do that. There’s no way. They’re just… what… buying guns? Lining their own pockets? And all on the back of a dead kid… wonder what his dad thinks of that._ She couldn’t help but think of her own parents – how her dad had hugged her after she came out and corrected anyone who tried to say that she was his splitting image, how her mom had just thrown money and androids around like Gabriel was just another problem to solve. And then Amber had been born less than a year later. _I bet in nine months we’ll have a story about how the youngest police lieutenant in Detroit who_ tragically _lost his son is now replacing him with the help of his pretty little wife or whoever. Are all adults just greedy little pigs, throwing a tantrum if they don’t get whatever they want? Guess I’ll find out in a few months._

Then she noticed the tablet beside her. _Why’d I bring that here again? I came to watch TV because… well, I must’ve finished all my school assignments for tomorrow._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Promotes Minority Religion

**December 2035**

Gabriel hadn’t even lifted her hand to ring the doorbell when Amira opened the door. “You’re here! Come in,” she signed quickly, a big smile on her face.

“Happy Eid,” Gabriel signed after slipping off her shoes to reveal a pair of rose-printed socks.

“Thanks,” Amira signed. Gabriel noticed that her hands were covered in intricate designs made with henna, probably done by one of her aunts. “Karim needed a break from the noise – he’s been having a hard time with it today, I guess -- so he and Aiden are on the balcony upstairs.”

The two weaved their way through groups of people – Gabriel had no idea how Amira’s family managed to fit all of their extended family and friends into their townhome – until Amira turned abruptly, Gabriel losing her in the crowd. _Well, crowd’s not quite the right word – I don’t know what is. I’ve never had this many people in my house before, never mind this many people who are family or practically family._ Noticing Amira’s parents talking to some of their guests nearby, she smiled and waved to them before Amira appeared at her side again.

“Do you want a date?” Amira signed, holding out a box that was almost-empty due to being used to break fasts for a month.

Gabriel nodded, signing a quick thanks after taking one. The two continued upstairs, where there were less people, giving Gabriel a chance to see some of the decorations, many of which depicted moons. _It looks like some of her younger cousins helped… that’s cute._

“I’m going to get something from my room. You can go out without me,” Amira signed.

Gabriel slid open the door leading out to the porch. Karim and Aiden didn’t seem to notice her at first, being in the middle of a conversation.

“… and at the exhibit about the Mars rovers,” Karim said, rocking back and forth a little in his chair, “One of the signs said that it played ‘Happy Birthday’ to itself each year.”

“And then I wondered if I could do that,” Aiden said from where he was leaning on the edge of the balcony. “I miss when I had time for projects like that.”

“That’s one of the best gifts anyone has made for me,” Karim said. “Besides my aunt’s blankets… she made a whole series of those with all the planets on them for me, even the dwarf plan–“ He stopped abruptly when he noticed that Gabriel was there. “Oh – hi.”

“Eid Mubarak,” Gabriel said.

Karim smiled at the Arabic translation of “Happy Eid”. “Thanks,” he said.

“Gabriel, right?” Aiden asked, brushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes as he turned to face her.

“Yeah,” she said before the conversation descended into awkward silence.

“Do you ever have something you can’t stop thinking about?” Aiden asked, seemingly out-of-the-blue.

“That one news report,” Karim said after an odd pause that almost made Gabriel think the question was directed at her. “About Cole? I don’t know. It makes me feel really bad – the way they talked about him. Like there was something _wrong_ with him. From what I knew, that wasn’t true – even if I didn’t know anything about him, I’d still think it was wrong.” He adjusted his glasses, rocking a little more intensely than before. “It just made me feel really, really bad.”

Just then, Amira ran out onto the balcony, her excited smile a stark contrast to her brother’s worried expression. “Gabriel, look at this,” she signed, handing her a piece of paper.

Gabriel recognized the university’s letterhead instantly, having received a very similar letter only a few days ago. “You got into the journalism program?” she signed.

“Yes! With a full scholarship!”

“That’s amazing!” Gabriel signed, really meaning it. She’d gotten enough money to cover tuition and fees, but that was about it.

Amira passed her phone to Aiden, who quickly typed something into it before passing it back to her. _His phone number_ , Gabriel realized as her phone vibrated in her pocket. _He probably doesn’t know ASL_. Pulling it out, she saw she’d been added to a group chat with Amira, Karim, and Aiden.

**Amira:** Aiden, you have to tell us everything about college!

**Aiden:** Idk

**Aiden:** There’s a lot more people than in high school… sometimes people ask what high school you went to, and then they have a million questions for me when I say I went to the school run by cyberlife

_I might just need to go and change my last name, if that’s the way people react to just hearing about our school. Too bad, I was looking forward to not having to decipher all that paperwork after I decided I was going to keep my birth name._

**Amira:** My parents will love that! They’ve been worried that I won’t be able to make friends or have people to study with

**Aiden:** Idk how your major is but maybe you’ll have a career fair

**Aiden:** In comp sci we just have constant badgering from cyberlife/other companies they own

**Aiden:** Wish I would’ve known that, or I would’ve gone a long way from here, lol

Gabriel glanced up from her phone and noticed that Karim had turned away from the group.

_Didn’t Amira mention that Karim made one of the dishes they had tonight?_ Gabriel began to type something about it, but changed her mind and deleted the words. _It probably wouldn’t make a difference, coming from me… I think he’d rather have Aiden or Amira realize that he was feeling left out…_

**Amira:** Gabriel, were you going to say something?

_She noticed I was typing… I’d better think of something…_

**Gabriel:** Do they have a lot of androids there?

**Aiden:** Yeah, janitors, teachers for like all the intro classes, dining halls

**Aiden:** There’s this one I started calling ‘flip’ in my head, and one time I said that out loud and it looked at me kinda funny, like it broke for a sec

Amira laughed loudly at that, and Gabriel giggled a little. Aiden looked over at Karim, like he was expecting a reaction from him, but Karim wasn’t laughing.

**Gabriel:** You’re the comp sci major

**Gabriel:** So why’d that happen?

**Aiden:** Idk you’d need to be a prodigy or smth to understand androids lol

**Aiden:** And it’s not like it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that

**Aiden:** Other people have too

**Aiden:** At least from what ive read

_That sounds like my uncle. At least, what I remember of him from when I was a kid…_ She had no idea what he did, now that her mom was CEO of Cyberlife. Her family never saw him anymore, and she had no better way of reaching out to him than anyone else did.

**Gabriel:** Wait so there’s people who look at android stuff?

**Gabriel:** So are they trying to fix them or something instead of having to take them into a store?

**Aiden:** A lot of them are just hobbyists

**Aiden:** And I’m not too into android tech

**Aiden:** But I know where to look if you want me to see?

**Gabriel:** Yeah if you have time

_You know, it would be nice to have an excuse to leave the house at some point during winter break…_

**Gabriel:** Maybe we could meet up during break?

**Aiden:** After finals, I’ve got way too much studying

**Aiden:** Why is college so hard XD

**Aiden:** Hey Karim maybe we could all meet at the restaurant after one of your shifts?

**Karim:** I guess

Amira blew on her hands and rubbed them together before typing again.

**Amira:** It’s getting chilly out here and I’d actually like to be able to talk to people lol

**Gabriel:** That’s a good idea

As Gabriel followed Amira inside, she heard Aiden and Karim talking behind her.

“Karim, are you coming?”

“Can I talk to you about something first?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt for this chapter is "No Mental Healthcare"

**December 2035**

_“Thank you for using Detroit buses,”_ the electronic voice said as the bus pulled up to the Camden Avenue Eastbound stop – well, more specifically, the one in front of a laundromat a couple blocks away from the restaurant Amira and Karim’s family owned. Face stinging with the cold December air – _should’ve brought a scarf_ – Gabriel walked down to the corner, where there was an apparently “organic” coffee shop. As she waited to cross the street, the train rushed by overhead. _That’s how fast my mind was racing during my meeting with therapy-droid earlier… and still is now. Wish I didn’t have to see her on the first day of winter break. Wasted a perfectly good morning._ As she got to the intersection, she heard the crumple of paper under her foot. She picked it up, intending to throw it in the next trash can she saw, when she noticed the words printed across the purple page: “Eden Club – The Sexiest Androids in Town”. In her surprise, she dropped it into a puddle of slush. _Well, I’m not trying to fish that out._

_“The light is green. You may now cross the road,”_ the crosswalk voice said. As she crossed the street, she glanced at the abandoned house on another corner of the intersection – she could’ve sworn she’d heard noises coming from it one time, but today it was silent – or at least covered up by the sounds of the busy street. She’d said something about it once, but Amira thought it was kind of funny that houses could make _noises_. At least Karim had said that he’d heard something before. She didn’t find the house as creepy as the surveillance drones downtown, though. At least the Ravendale district hadn’t introduced them. _Yet._

At the end of the block was a large mural of flowers – most prominently red roses – surrounding the word “color”. Seeing that was like coming home, because across the street was the row of townhomes where Amira and Karim lived with their parents and, a couple buildings down from it, was the restaurant.

“Emily, do you want to go to the park after this?” a woman said, holding the door to the restaurant open for a little girl to walk through.

As Gabriel crossed the street, the girl shrugged, taking her mom’s hand. _Poor kid. She looks so sad for being that young. She looks, what, six? Seven?_

“I know Emma and Zoe are both visiting family for Christmas...” The woman sighed. “Maybe you’re right; the park probably isn’t the best idea right now. I just wish you had… _a friend_ … to play with.”

_I wish I wasn’t coming from therapy today. Then maybe I could’ve brought Amber with me. Mom wouldn’t have noticed – she’s too busy getting ready for Cyberlife’s “holiday” party tonight. And I know I saw at least a_ couple _smiles from Amber when she met Amira._

Gabriel pushed open the door to the restaurant. It was the middle of the afternoon, so it was easy to spot the table where Amira and Aiden were already sitting, though Karim wasn’t with them yet.

As she sat down, Amira immediately started signing. “How was therapy?”

Gabriel glanced over at Aiden, who was sitting next to her. _Hopefully he’s fine with feeling a little left out._ “Therapy was the same. Yes, I’m still sure that I’m a girl. Yes, I’m still sure that I want to continue hormones,” she signed exaggeratedly, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I dress like this every day.” She unzipped her coat, revealing a fuchsia sweater-dress with black leggings and a couple of red and purple necklaces.

“Because the clothing makes the woman,” Amira signed, rolling her eyes. “Did you talk to therapy-droid about anything _useful_?”

_Here we go again._ “No. She’s still an android. Anything I told her could still end up on my mom’s desk.”

“But that’s the opposite of what therapy’s supposed to be!”

“I don’t care. As long as I get my hormones, and the paperwork for that little “F” goes through, I’m happy. I’m never seeing a therapy-droid again once I’m eighteen.”

Amira’s eyebrows shot up, her eyes wide. “Even if you can’t transition further?”

Gabriel nodded. She’d thought about it for a long time, but this was the obvious conclusion. “Yes. My mom is going to announce tonight that therapy-droids are going to be released widely next year. The official press release says they’ll help ‘fill the gap between demand for mental health services and available providers’, but some people are going to get laid off immediately. I refuse to see an android. And Cyberlife made sure that every surgeon and hospital using their tech requires therapist letters. Congress was all too happy to support that.”

“There has to be _someone_ who isn’t affiliated with them!”

“Android-assisted surgeries have lower complication rates. Even if there was a surgeon who worked without them, they’d be in the middle of nowhere. Every major hospital has nurse-droids.” She could see hints of conflict in Amira’s eyes, in the way that she held herself without her usual confidence. “I know you want to help. But the only way to do it is by supporting my decision.”

The kitchen door swung open, and after hearing a few words in Arabic, Karim emerged. He sat down at the table, quickly pulling out his phone.

**Karim:** Sorry I kept you waiting

**Amira:** Was it about Elizabeth?

**Karim:** Yeah

**Amira:** Hows Emily?

**Karim:** Still not good

**Karim:** She hasn’t been the same since what happened with Cole

**Karim:** I remember she used to be so happy

**Karim:** She always talked about getting to play with him and his dog

**Karim:** Elizabeth would do anything to get her daughter back

**Karim:** But theres long waiting lists for therapists

**Karim:** And the psychologist they have at Emily’s school can only do so much

**Karim:** Shes not even at Emily’s school every day

**Karim:** And Emily’s teachers have been worried about how much class shes missing

**Aiden:** It sounds like she needs help

**Aiden:** Really badly

**Karim:** Yeah

**Karim:** And Elizabeth’s worried bc this doesn’t seem normal for a grieving kid

**Karim:** But what even is normal in that situation

Aiden quickly turned around as the door to the restaurant open. A delivery worker came in, Karim and Amira’s father immediately coming out to meet him. The delivery man talked in a low, direct voice that was oddly familiar – at least, until Gabriel saw the blonde strands of hair framing his face. _It couldn’t be Noah, anyway. He’s still in prison for a couple more months._

“Aiden?” Karim asked.

Aiden didn’t respond. The delivery guy left.

“Aiden?” Karim asked again. “Do you remember, the summer after eighth grade, when we were on the field trip to D.C. and we got lost in the Air & Space Museum?”

Aiden blinked a couple times.

“We were at the exhibit about the Mars rovers. You read this one sign about the programming for it to play ‘Happy Birthday’ to itself each year.” Karim started rocking gently in his chair, pushing up his glasses every few seconds even though it didn’t look like he needed to. “Then you said you had an idea for something like that to program.”

_I’ve heard this story before, haven’t I?_

“It was two hours past the time we were supposed to meet up with the group,” Aiden said, seeming to refocus on Karim, who smiled at him.

Aiden suddenly pushed back his chair, causing a low rumble against the floor that caught Amira’s attention and caused Karim to press his hands against his ears. _Was it really that loud?_

“I have to go,” Aiden said. He took a couple steps toward the door before turning back and looking at Gabriel. “About the androids –“ he lowered his voice. “—there’s some people around who definitely _aren’t_ Cyberlife-authorized dealers who know how to do almost all of the repairs that the shops can do. There’s this one guy – I wouldn’t be surprised if he figures out how to modify android memory. He’s actually made good headway into figuring out how to read it. He could get rich off of that.”

“Wait,” Karim said, getting up more carefully than Aiden had. “Let me walk you to the bus?”

“I’ll be fine,” Aiden said, pulling away from Karim’s outstretched hand and heading out the door.

Karim came back to the table, his eyes still looking worried even as he attempted to smile. “I’ll text him later, make sure he got back to his dorm okay.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Anti-Cop

**December 2035**

Gabriel moved her thimble the five spaces she’d rolled, landing on a space with a picture of a policeman blowing his whistle. She moved her piece to the “jail” square on the opposite corner of the board and passed the dice to Amber.

“That’s sixty dollars,” Simon said as Amber landed on one of his properties. Gabriel sighed loudly, leaning back in her chair. Her mom had wanted “peace and quiet” to work, even though it was Christmas Eve, and apparently Simon thought the best way to do that would be to get Gabriel and Amber involved in a game of Monopoly – specifically the ancient board game that her mom and uncle had as kids. _Who knows where Dad is… he’d probably be more fun to play with._

Amber furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at her money. After a few long moments, she handed Simon a fifty-dollar and a hundred-dollar bill. He stared at the money, the normally-blue LED on the side of his forehead swirling to yellow, and then red. _I’ve never seen it go to red before._ He dropped the two bills haphazardly on top of his tidy piles of money, one hand going to his arm and _scratching_ , as if there was some invisible thing on his skin that he was trying to get off. His LED abruptly turned to blue and he froze for a moment before placing the bills neatly in their piles. He picked up the dice, clearly intending to ignore Amber’s mistake.

“Amber didn’t give you the right amount of money,” Gabriel said, leaning forward in her seat. “She gave you a hundred and fifty dollars, when she only needed to give you sixty.” It was a pretty common mistake for her to make, but Simon was handling it… _oddly_ , to say the least.

Simon looked confused, his LED swirling to yellow again.

Amber blinked a few times, looking on the verge of tears. She slammed her hands on the table as she stood up, glaring at Gabriel before she ran out of the room. Her quick, angry footsteps headed up the stairs, shaking some of the light fixtures and loose knick-knacks. Gabriel felt sick. _I screwed up. I shouldn’t have said anything. She probably hates me now._

Before she had the opportunity to take that thought further, her mom entered the room, her gaze fixing on Gabriel, and then on Simon, as if she was deciding who to blame. _Please don’t choose me._ Finally, she must’ve noticed the empty chair, because she turned around and left the room the same way Amber had.

“I have to go take care of this,” Simon said, getting up and following after her. _Well, finally. I was waiting for someone to act like an adult._

Not having anything better to do, Gabriel left the room as well. The door to her mom’s office was open, and she could see the glow of the computer monitor from within. Without thinking, she walked into the room, sitting down in her mom’s chair in front of the screen. _What am I doing?_ But no one was around, which let her just pretend for a moment – pretend this was her office, her desk with a beautiful bouquet of roses, her computer with access to every company secret. _Where I always thought I’d be when I was a little kid. I wanted to be just like her._ She pulled her phone out of her pocket and set it on the computer’s interface adaptor. A prompt appeared on the computer screen asking for permission to trust the device, which she accepted, before navigating to a file folder that had been recently opened and setting the computer up to copy its contents onto her phone. _There’s got to be_ something _interesting here._

While she waited, she turned her attention to the documents open on the screen. The first open window contained some sort of report. _That’s too many words. I’ll just read a few of them._ She spotted “RK800” right away. _Must be an android model._ Then another word caught her eye – “police”. She scrolled down a little, noticing just how long the document was. _Cop-droids don’t do anything. They just give out tickets at expired parking meters and stuff like that. So why would you need a report this long about them?_

Getting bored after a few more pages filled with words, she clicked over to another open window. It was a spreadsheet that had something about the RK800 in the title. The cells had absolutely _absurd_ amounts of money typed in – the kind that would make Amber spontaneously combust if she saw them. _You don’t need this much money to make androids that give out parking tickets. They have to be doing something more._ She stared at the green numbers on the top part of the screen. Off to the left of one of the cells were the words “Detroit Police”. _They’re giving Cyberlife ten million dollars. They’re paying Cyberlife to make some sort of android that’s going to do something for them, something big. But what?_

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Quickly, she clicked to switch back to the report before picking up her phone and leaving the room. _I need to think about this more. I need to go somewhere where no one’s going to come looking for me and I won’t get distracted._ She headed to the kitchen, relieved to find that it was empty. Figuring that she’d be here awhile, she lifted herself up to sit on one of the counters. _The police are planning something big. It’ll probably end up taking someone’s job. They’ll probably justify it by saying that it’s more efficient, more accurate, stuff like that. But it’s probably not going to actually be as great as they say it is. Someone’s going to get hurt, just like with everything else._ She swung her legs as she thought. _As long as the police, and schools, and probably the government are funding Cyberlife – well, they’ll have control of everything. It’ll be a nightmare. How would I leave my house in that sort of world? I’d be too scared to go outside. It would be just like the internet, where everyone’s watching and everything spreads, everywhere and always, but in real life. And there’s going to be a lot more consequences._

She stopped swinging her legs, bringing them up onto the counter and folding her knees up to her chest. _Aiden said there’s people who know how to fix androids, who can do everything that Cyberlife can. Even if Cyberlife just disappeared one day, they’d still exist. I exist. We’d still have a problem. They’d be doing everything that they do now, carrying out every objective my mom gave them, and eventually someone would probably figure out how to make more. People will_ want _more. The only way to fix all this would be to make everyone stop wanting more._

Feeling restless, she stretched her legs out. _That’s a whole lot of people to convince. That’s every person in America. That’s the president, the government – everyone. You can’t convince everyone without a whole lot of money, and a whole lot of people. I don’t know that many people who agree with me, and the ones that might – I don’t want to put them in that kind of danger. But I can’t just have random people helping me – they need to be people who understand and accept that kind of danger. They need to be people who I wouldn’t give up everything to protect._

Her head hurt just thinking about the whole thing. Then she realized her head hurting was actually because she’d been lightly hitting it against the refrigerator the whole time. She pressed her hand against her face, trying to get all the thoughts out of her head. She didn’t want to think about this anymore. _Why did I even go into her office, anyways?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Unflattering to Majority Group

**January 2036**

Amira sat down at her desk, opening her new planner to today’s date – January second. Karim had already written “Amira’s Birthday” under the date before giving it to her, something that never failed to make her smile when she saw it each year. Under that, she copied down the assignments she’d received on the first day back to school after winter break. There was still extra room at the bottom of the column, but she never bothered to write down the things she did every day or every week. The next things to add in were the one-time events – a couple of tests that were scheduled for the end of January and the beginning of February, and then Gabriel’s birthday on the fourteenth. _I should try and make plans with her for that day._ Flipping back a week, she added a reminder to text her best friend. Then she continued on adding in dates. She’d just written down spring break, in April, when her bedroom’s light flicked off and back on again. Turning around, she saw Karim standing in the frame of the open door, his hand hovering over the light switch.

“Are you busy?” he signed.

“No.” She could finish this later.

He came in and sat down on her bed, seeming oddly tense, like he was forcing himself not to move.

_Of course he wouldn’t be moving – he’s just sitting there._ “You’re here early.” Usually he came in to tell her goodnight right before he texted Aiden, but it was too early for that.

“Sorry. Did you see my note? In your planner?”

“Note? Where you wrote in my birthday?”

“No – never mind, it’s not important.” He sat there for a moment, like he was trying to think of something. “Do you like it?” he signed, pointing at the planner. He must not have been able to think of… whatever it was.

“You get me one every year. You know I like it.”

“No, not the planner – everything you fill the pages with.”

“I don’t understand. It’s exactly what I need to write down.”

Karim shook his head, almost like a shiver, before abruptly stilling. “How do you feel? The first word in your head.”

“Tired.”

“Tired.” He thought some more. “That’s how I would feel, if I did everything you did – if I took the hardest classes and did activities after school and talked to people all the time.”

“You talk to plenty of people –“

“Are you tired by the time you get to lunch at school –“

“No –“

“I always was.”

“What?”

“The first thing I remember about our school was how bright it was when the lights reflected off the floors. Then how the sound echoed when my classmates slammed their lockers. Then all the morning classes – how to get to them and where I sat in each and what everyone’s names were. When I left class to go pray I took an extra minute or two. I didn’t realize how much I needed the time with just me and Allah until then. That was the only part of the day when I wasn’t tired.”

That… made sense. To a certain extent.

Karim glanced at the clock on the wall. “Goodnight,” he signed, getting up. Amira did as well, the two of them hugging quickly.

“Goodnight,” she signed as he stepped back from the hug before leaving the room. She sat back down at her desk, back to where she’d left off – spring break, in April. _Should I keep going with this? Or maybe I should just read the note… he said it wasn’t important, but if he wrote it then it must be…_

She flipped the planner to the inside of the front cover, where she found the note.

_Amira –_

_I’m sorry you’re not the first person I’ve told this to, even though I’m the first person you confided in, but Aiden was the one who made me realize this, so we ended up talking about it first._

_I don’t know how to say this, and I don’t think I ever will know, so here it is: I’m pretty sure I’m autistic._

Amira stared at the words. _This isn’t what I expected._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Happy Infidelity

**January 2036**

They’d gone to Simon first. “I think you should ask your parents about that.” _But you’re the only one who would tell me what I wanted to hear._ Then to their dad “I’m not a woman. You should ask your mother.” _Does that really matter? Shouldn’t you know about this?_

That was why Amber was sitting outside the door to their mom’s office, waiting for her to get home. Clutched in their hands was a plastic bag of things they’d gotten from school after that talk, all decorated nicely with roses and other flowers. _It’s basically painting over bloodstains and hoping that the look of a pretty picture will make everyone forget about the horrors underneath._ They almost laughed a little to themself, at the way it sounded like something out of _Frankenstein_ instead of the thoughts of the well-behaved kid who never talked. _They all think I never talk – but Simon knows I do. I want to be like him, like an omniscient narrator. I want to know everything._

They heard the click of the front door’s lock, then the click of their mother’s high heels, followed by a brief scurrying – probably Simon trying to close the door before it slammed and she got mad.

“Amber?” their mom said, as she approached. “What are you doing here?”

They opened their mouth, took a breath – okay, no words – took another breath – still no –

“Amber, if you want something, you need to speak up,” their mom said, her voice turning low and direct, her eyes turning icy.

Her voice went into Amber’s body, making their hands tremble and blocking up their throat and making tears prick at their eyes. _Stop it! Stop pushing me! I just can’t talk to you! If you were somebody else, like Simon, or my teacher, or any other android, I’d be able to give you every word, but I can’t!_ The bag in their hand crinkled as they pulled out a booklet and held it up for her to see.

“Oh, honey,” she said, her voice becoming higher and lighter and nicer, “Come in. You need privacy for this conversation.” She unlocked the door to her office, allowing Amber to follow her in before she closed it.

There was only one other chair in the room besides the desk chair. The cushion was perpetually plump with disuse, but without any dust. _I wonder when Simon has time to clean in here. Maybe when I’m at school, or sleeping? It seems like he’s always around and watching… unless I manage to get to my room and lock the door while he’s cooking… or at night, like when I downloaded_ Frankenstein _on my tablet after he said I was too young to read it…_ There was a vase of blood-red roses on the desk. The few times Amber had been in here, the roses had always been in bloom. But… even if Simon took care of them perfectly, they couldn’t last that long, could they?

Their mom reached carefully into the vase. Their eyes went wide with anticipation – _I always prick myself when I try to help Simon with the rosebushes_ – but she pulled one out easily, fingers and hand unharmed. “Our bodies are like roses. We have layers upon layers of things that make us women, layers upon layers that only the right man can get through. That man will be your husband one day.”

_I never really thought about that… but I can’t… see it, for some reason? Usually I can see things in my head so clearly! Like a princess, surrounded by roses and food and family… like a sister, who loves her but always hides it… That’s why my teachers say my writing is good! So why can’t I see this?_ Their heart started pounding.

“The petals are everything beautiful. They’re everything that will draw your husband towards you… but also towards other women.”

Amber furrowed their eyebrows, confused. _Is she talking about Dad? But… he wouldn’t do anything like that… would he?_

“They’re all the pretty things, like clothing and hair, breasts and soft skin. Of course, there’s also the thorns. Those are the things that aren’t beautiful, the things that will drive him to go to other women temporarily. Those are the things like periods, which I’m sure you learned about in school, but also body hair and odor… you’ll learn how to deal with those things when the time comes.”

_It sounds like she’s got it all backwards to me… and are the periods_ really _not a prank? That’s all I wanted to know… they sound like some horrible punishment out of a story…_

“But if you find a good husband, he’ll always come back to you after his escapades, and he’ll fulfill his duties in helping you conceive and provide for children. And you will fulfill your job of raising those children, and everyone will be happy.”

_That sounds like the opposite of happy. A kid, growing inside of me?! That sounds disgusting. Like a tumor. And… I still can’t see myself… as a woman… with a husband? That sounds like my worst nightmare, where bad things keep happening around you and you can’t move and you can’t do anything about it. Is she really saying that you can’t just choose?_

She got up from her desk chair and came around the other side, kneeling down next to Amber. “I know that sounds hard. And it will be. But… you will be happy.” She ran a hand through Amber’s hair, the golden waves that they both shared. They tensed their muscles, trying not to flinch, trying not to think about their hair, trying not to cry. _Can’t_ I _just choose what will make me happy?_ Finally, she took Amber’s hand instead. The same pale skin. And then she looked at Amber with the same blue eyes, like the Cyberlife logo. “I see every part of myself in you. You are going to become the most beautiful rose who ever lived.” Their palms felt sweaty at the thought of being just a younger version of their mom. Finally, she let go of Amber’s hand and stood up. “You can go now. I have work to do.”

Amber left the room, closing the door gently behind her before sinking down to their hands and knees, suddenly realizing that they couldn’t breathe. Thinking of some lines from one of their stories, they felt their breathing and heartrate come back to normal. _But it’s not just a story – it’s the truth. That’s why… that’s why the sister hides her feelings for the princess._

_There’s only one person who can help me now. I need to talk to Gabriel._


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Menstruation

**January 2036**

Gabriel stared at the lines upon lines of code on her computer screen. They were all from the files she’d taken from her mom’s computer. At first, she’d been a little confused about why her mom had a folder of information on self-driving cars, until she did a little searching and found that Cyberlife had bought out a failing self-driving car company in the early 2020’s and had quickly turned it around, making it now the dominant company in the Midwest. _I had no idea Cyberlife owned that until I went looking._

Knowing that this had something to do with self-driving cars, she’d tried reading through a few lines of code in a file named “Termination” – it almost looked like a math problem in some places, with variables being set equal to some sort of link that only gave error messages when she tried to use it. _Maybe there’s some file I don’t have? Aiden might know… but he’s probably really busy. Maybe he won’t mind if I text him one quick question?_

**Gabriel:** Hey sorry for the text but I was wondering: if someone who didn’t know anything about programming happened to be looking at code, what would be the easiest way to figure out what it did?

Three knocks sounded – hesitant, like the house would fall apart if Gabriel’s door was hit hard enough. She got up from her desk and opened the door. Only one person knocked like that.

Amber walked into Gabriel’s room, closing the door behind her as she entered. She sat down on Gabriel’s bed, sitting far enough back so that her legs dangled instead of touching the floor.

“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked, sitting down next to her.

Amber passed Gabriel a small booklet. _‘The Puberty Guide for Girls’._

_Oh no._ “So… you had sex ed in school today?” _Way to be unhelpful._

Amber nodded.

“Okay… did you, uh, have a question about something?” _Why is she coming to_ me _about this?_ She felt… honored, in a way. _But I don’t think I’m the best person to come to._

She furrowed her eyebrows, her gaze darting around like she felt conflicted. Her throat bobbed a couple times as she swallowed. She took a couple large breaths, as if she was fighting something.

Gabriel would fight that thing for her a million times if it meant she didn’t always look so sad, so nervous; if it meant she could say whatever came to mind freely, Gabriel would do it.

“Mom said –“ Amber’s voice was breathy, her chest rose and fell quickly, and her eyes went wide, as if she saw something unspeakable. “That my body’s like a rose!” Her voice shook and her eyes were shiny with tears.

_What? I wish I was better at English class, like she is… then maybe I’d get it…_

Amber leaned into Gabriel’s shoulder, sniffling. Gabriel wrapped an arm around her sister, trying to rub her back. That’s what you did for kids, right? That’s what Mom and Dad always did. When they were around more. _They were always there for me… until it felt like I didn’t need them anymore, until I didn’t_ want _to need them anymore… but were they ever really there for Amber?_

Amber rubbed the back of her hand across her face, coating it in a mix of snot and tears. “Do you want to try again?” Gabriel asked quietly.

Amber looked up at her, miming writing with a pen.

“Okay. I’ll get you one.” Gabriel got up and dug through a drawer in her desk, where she swore she had an old pen and notepad. She found them buried at the bottom – the notepad only had one page left in it, but hopefully this would be quick. She had things to get back to. Sitting back down on the bed, she passed them to Amber.

“I don’t like it when everyone talks about me like I’m a flower, like I’ll just turn into whatever they want,” she wrote. “The teachers at school divided us up into boys and girls. Dad said it was fine that they did that when I asked him why, and then he told me to talk to Mom. The teacher tried to tell us that we were going to get breasts and have periods. Mom just told me I was going to be a woman and marry a man and made me feel bad. She said I’d be happy, but how could I be happy with any of that?”

_That sounds like…_ Then she heard Simon’s even footsteps out in the hall. _I can’t tell Amber right now. If he overhears, he might tell Mom. And considering what Amber just said… I think I’d be in trouble. And there’s not enough paper left on that notepad to write everything down and explain._ She glanced at her phone, tablet, and laptop, but shook her head. _He could come in here while I’m at school or something and find out and tell her._ But Amber was still waiting for her to say _something_. “Are you scared?”

Amber thought for a moment before nodding in a slow, defeated way.

“It’s… it’s okay to be scared. And it’s okay to ask for help if you’re scared.” _That’s the best thing I can say._ “I’ve got a lot of homework, so…” _Please leave, before she does something horrible. Please leave, before you realize that I never say when I’m scared. Please leave, before you learn that I’ve lied to you when I wanted to tell you the truth._

Amber got up without looking back, taking the booklet, notepad, and pen with her. She shut the door louder than she normally would, the sound of it hitting the frame causing a shudder that echoed through Gabriel’s heart.

_I thought I did the right thing… why does it feel like I screwed up so badly? She’s going to hate me now…_ She briefly thought of texting Amira. _She’ll just be disappointed. After all, she has a good relationship with Karim… I’ve never seen them be mad at each other… am I the only one who has to live like I’m walking on eggshells all the time?_

She picked up her phone again.

**Aiden:** Hit Ctrl+F, and then search for a #. Anything written next to it won’t do anything when the computer runs the code, but my professors are always drilling it in that you should use them to explain what the code does

She followed his instructions, and… there were a ton of them.

It was four in the morning when she figured it out. The code made some sort of calculation using everything you’d done, everything it predicted you’d ever do. It did that once for each person, and compared those with potential outcomes predicted by some other program, and chose the one that resulted in the lowest score. All the data to come up with the score was pulled from Cyberlife’s databases – and she could guess where it had come from.

When she finally went to bed, she found herself in school, in her social studies classroom. Out the windows, the leaves on the trees were bright orange and red. _September. No, probably October._ She glanced down at her desk, where a paper and pencil sat. _Okay, a test._ Then she read the problem.

_A 50-year-old man and a 6-year-old boy are riding in a self-driving car. Suddenly, a truck that is also on the road skids on a sheet of ice. In every possible response that the self-driving car can make, one of the passengers will die, but there is a choice between the man and the boy. Which one of the passengers will survive?_

The space on the bottom of the page was only about as wide as her finger, leaving just enough space to do the work and write her answer. _The boy will survive._

“Time’s up,” the teacher-droid said in a British accent. It was actually Simon who walked up to her desk and picked up her paper. “Incorrect,” he said with only a glance, flipping the paper over and setting it down in front of her. “You didn’t read the rest of the problem. You failed,” he said, sounding pleasant all the while.

Then she was on top of a roof, looking down at Hart Plaza, where there were lots of people. She felt someone tug on the bottom of her shirt. Turning around, she saw a little boy named Cole standing by the side of the road. Not making eye contact, he handed her a notebook. She flipped it open to find written in neat, defined printing,

_Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a beautiful garden of roses. There was also a girl who adored the princess, and wanted to be just like her and to be with her forever. The day the magical roses finally let her into the garden, she was truly happy. Meanwhile, her younger sister, who also adored the princess, believed the garden was actually a prison. She had been pricked by a rose when she was very young, and it had caused her an immense pain that everyone else ignored._

_I’d better make sure that I flip the page this time._ In Cyberlife Sans, all that was written was, _Your choices will shape our destiny._

She looked back up to find that Cole was gone. Instead, she saw a self-driving car sitting damaged on the side of the road, the license plate identical to the one her family owned. Around it was a pool of purple blood.

“Amber?” she called out, though she wasn’t sure why. She turned around to look for her, but instead found her mother and Simon standing together. Both of them seemed happy, like there hadn’t just been a car crash right in front of them.

Then her alarm went off.

_I really messed up this time, didn’t I._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Banned Language  
> I interpreted this one as more of a "banned words/topics" instead of taking it literally.

**February 2036**

Karim sat on his bed, staring at the device in his hand. Small, heavy enough to be a comfort but not so heavy that it was a burden, almost instantaneous transmission… sometimes he wondered how Aiden had done it. He’d basically designed, made, and programmed a cell phone – albeit only one that could text, but he’d never seen anyone make something like this before by their own hand. And apparently it couldn’t be tracked or intercepted.

He turned the screen on again – still no messages. Aiden had stopped messaging him as much as usual. It was barely the start of the spring semester, and his friend had never needed to study much, spending a lot of time on his personal projects instead. _Maybe he just forgot? Maybe he made new friends… and he’s going to forget about me again… I should say something now… tell Aiden that I’m worried about him._ Holding his breath, Karim typed out a message.

**Karim:** Are you okay?

The doubts started flooding in immediately. _What if that was the wrong thing to say? What if he thinks I’m stupid? What if he doesn’t want to talk to me anymore?_ Trying to comfort himself, he grabbed a few of the thicker blankets in his collection and wrapped them around himself. The weight felt nice, but it still wasn’t enough. He rocked back and forth, not really realizing at first until he looked down at the floor. Just as he was beginning to feel okay again, a new message appeared.

**Aiden:** No

_No? What does that even mean?_ He ran a hand through his hair, focusing on the feeling of softness of the loose curls against his fingers. He knew what the word “no” meant, obviously, but… what did it mean to Aiden? His hands shook as he typed out a response.

**Karim:** What’s wrong?

**Aiden:** I hate it here

**Aiden:** My dorm’s two blocks down from some of the frat houses, and I swear there’s always something… the noise, the smell, those bright lights…

**Aiden:** It’s like I picked it up from you

_What?_ Aiden had gone to parties before, when they were in high school – not all of them, because his foster parents didn’t let him go out on weeknights, and Karim was still pretty sure there were parties going on that Aiden _didn’t_ go to. He didn’t think about that much, though – he was just happy that Aiden made time for him, and took it as a sign that Aiden wouldn’t abandon him when they parted ways after high school.

**Karim:** What do you mean?

He couldn’t help wondering if this was going to be the start of another fight. They’d had one last year, at around this time – all he’d done was _ask_ why Aiden had been withdrawing, and suddenly they were at odds with each other. He just wanted to know if they were friends or not, it wasn’t supposed to be mean! Aiden had come back to him eventually, but Karim still didn’t know why the whole thing had happened. He figured it was just one of those weird things people did that he just didn’t get.

**Aiden:** I don’t think it’s exactly like you. You’ve always told me that it’s the sound itself that makes you hurt

**Aiden:** For me it’s like it flips a switch, makes pieces of memory play in my head, and that’s what hurts me, but instead of showing it on the outside I just freeze up

_Should I ask more? Or is he going to get upset again? But I can’t help him if I don’t know what’s going on!_

**Karim:** What memory?

**Aiden:** You know how Noah went to jail for drugs?

**Karim:** I assumed it was at one of his parties, but I didn’t think you were involved

**Aiden:** There weren’t ever any drugs

**Aiden:** Not that I remember

**Aiden:** When the police came to school and did that search, I was confused. I’d been to his house plenty of times, so how did I not know? And he always seemed really nice… so when I saw an article online that mentioned which drug it was, I didn’t believe it at first

**Aiden:** Then things started flipping the switch in my head. I’d try to get dressed in the morning, pull on the flannel shirt I’d worn one of those nights, and then I’d be late to school and shaking, feeling powerless, only to have to get myself there and sit next to him without crying or throwing up all over my books. I felt like I could feel his hands on my skin, even though they weren’t

_What? Does he mean…?_

**Karim:** Did he do something at one of the parties?

**Aiden:** I don’t know. I don’t remember usually, outside of when that switch gets triggered. All I know is that I want these things to stop. I don’t want to have to worry about what the next thing’s going to be that triggers it. I don’t want to have to worry about how not to attract any attention when it happens. I used to tell myself that he was in prison, that he couldn’t get to me, but he’s out now.

**Aiden:** Everyone’s always watching me. They all know where I went to high school, and they all expect me to do well. If anything happened in class or anything, it would be all over the place. Everyone would know immediately. So if it’s a bad day, I just don’t go. I passed my first semester, but my grades aren’t doing great. I’m worried about what happens when the classes get harder, when I find out what flips the switch and I start having to avoid more and more things. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll make it.

Tears pricked the corners of Karim’s eyes. _Why didn’t you tell me?_ He almost typed it, but didn’t. _I know why – it’s one of those things that everyone but me just_ knows _that you can’t talk about it. Like there’s a secret list of banned topics that I never received. Maybe autism is on that list, too, and that’s why Amira was weird about it. But Aiden never acted like that – I mean, he_ was _the one who sent that article to me, that made me really think about it…_

**Karim:** I believe you.

**Aiden:** I don’t know why I didn’t tell you sooner. I guess I thought you’d be like everyone else and either push me away, ignore me, or tell the world about my problems.

**Aiden:** I don’t know why I thought that. You’re not like other people, Karim.

**Karim:** Does anyone else know?

**Aiden:** I think one of the monitor-droids might’ve figured it out in high school. One time I was still in the bathroom trying to get my head right when the bell rang for class to start. Then one of the monitor-droids came in and checked the room, but instead of giving me detention for being there without a pass, it just… left.

**Karim:** That’s weird. I never noticed anything about any of them

**Aiden:** I could pick it apart from the others after that, but it was a lot of little things that you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for them. One time it even found me again, asked me if I was okay, and then sat with me until I was ready to go to class.

**Karim:** Did that help?

**Aiden:** Yeah, it did. Just knowing that I wasn’t alone and that everything was okay… it helped get me out of there faster.

A loud boom of thunder rang out, loud enough that Karim could feel it in his chest. Slowly unwrapping the blankets from around him, he walked over to the window and pressed a hand against the freezing cold pane. Outside, white flakes of snow – big enough that they could’ve been pieces of ripped paper – swirled around. _Thundersnow._ If he wanted to be able to comfort Aiden in person – and right now he _really_ felt like he needed to see Aiden in person, if only to make sure that he was here and that he was okay -- he’d have to leave now.

He heard a door shut across the hall, followed by footsteps. _That must’ve been Amira… it sounds like she’s going out._ The car would be faster than the bus, and if Amira was already going somewhere, she’d be more likely to give him a ride. _I have to do something, now, before she leaves._

**Karim:** I’m coming over

Not waiting for a response, he locked the device and shoved it in his pocket, along with his normal phone. He left his room, finding Amira downstairs by the front door, car keys in hand. He tapped her on the shoulder, waiting for her to turn around before signing, “You need to take me to see Aiden.”

She looked confused. “Can’t you see him another day? I have plans with Gabriel. Today’s her birthday.”

Karim shook his head, frustrated. He tried to explain. “It’s urgent.”

“I’ll be late to see Gabriel.”

“He needs me.” _And I need him._

“What’s going on?”

_I can’t just say what it is._ “I need to be with him. Please trust me.”

“Fine.”

Karim scrambled to get his coat on, giving up completely on the zipper before he followed Amira out the door.

In the car, he started counting the seconds between the flashes of lightning and booms of thunder, trying to distract himself from thoughts of how Aiden was doing right now and what was going to happen between them. _I have to be doing the right thing… we’ve always been there for each other… it wouldn’t be right for me to_ not _do this._


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo Square: Anti-Family

**February 2036**

**Gabriel:** Are you sure you’re fine driving in the snow? We can do something another day

**Amira:** It’s not that bad. Just might take a little longer.

**Gabriel:** Ok, if you’re sure

**Amira:** Grabbing my keys and coat, then I’ll be on my way to your place

**Gabriel:** See you then!

Those texts were, what… over an hour ago? _Amira should’ve been here by now. Where is she?_ Gabriel looked out her bedroom window again. The street was still empty, save for the piling snow. _I hope she didn’t get stuck out there in all that. I hope nothing happened to her just because I was selfish and actually wanted to celebrate my birthday._

Putting her phone in her pocket, she slowly opened her door before realizing her parents were in the hallway. _Shoot!_ She shut the door most of the way, leaving only a tiny crack where she could see her parents in the hallway.

“I know it’s Valentine’s Day… so I got you something special…” Her mother handed her dad a plastic card that glowed purple.

_Wait… I’ve seen that logo before, I think…_

“There’s enough money on here for two,” he said, his voice sounding breathy.

_It has to be the Eden Club._ She wasn’t sure how she felt about that – it was too weird to think about.

“Go on, have a good time,” her mother said in the tone of voice you’d use to talk to a child. To talk to Amber.

_I hope she hasn’t heard any of this._

Her dad walked away, probably down the stairs judging by the thumps of his feet. Her mother turned and almost looked right at her through the crack in the door. _No…_ Lightning flashed, and then she was gone. _Thundersnow. If I’d known that the weather was going to do_ this _, I wouldn’t have asked Amira to celebrate with me tonight. Now what? She’s probably almost here… I could go outside, look for her, make sure she’s okay. She really can’t be that far away._ She opened her door fully, glancing both ways along the hallway. _No one’s out here – and Amber’s door is shut. Good._

Closing the door behind her, she tiptoed as quietly as she could down the staircase. _I don’t see Simon anywhere. He must still be working on the laundry._

She’d put on her coat and was just about to tie the laces on her boots when she heard her mother’s voice behind her: “Gabriel… what are you doing?”

Slowly, she turned to face her. _She puts herself above everyone else, and she holds all the power in the world… whatever she says, I have to do it. She took that choice away from me as soon as she went down this road._

Her mother’s eyes flickered down. “Give me your phone.”

She pulled it out of her pocket and passed it over, feeling calmer than she maybe should’ve.

Her mother connected the phone to a small device, then started tapping on it. “I knew you were always unusual. That you always had doubts, that you felt conflicted. I know the people you’ve talked to, the files you stole from me. Do you feel anything for what you’ve done… or for Amira?”

_No! No…_ “Where did you get that… that thing?”

“Oh, this? Just a small bonus through one of Cyberlife’s contracts with the military. Did you really believe we would let you have a phone without monitoring it?”

Gabriel shook her head, every text conversation playing back through her head. _It’s my fault if anything happens to Karim, Aiden, or Amira… I was stupid… I should’ve guessed she was using me._ _I’m sorry…_

“Now tell me, what do you feel for Amira?” Even though she hadn’t moved an inch, it felt like she was right there, right in Gabriel’s space. Right in her _heart._

She didn’t say anything, only breathing steadily.

“Honey, why won’t you trust us?” Her mother asked, her voice suddenly turning sympathetic as if on cue. “All we want is to help you, and you’re not even letting us do that!”

_That’s a lie. You’ve been purposely sending dad away so he can’t help me or Amber._ She glanced over to the top of the staircase, suddenly realizing why her mother had started acting so nice. _You don’t even want to help me – you just want to make Amber like you. No matter what happens, I’m not going to come back after tonight, but I can at least make sure that Amber knows you can’t be trusted._ “If I tell you, you won’t love me anymore,” she said, trying to remember how she’d felt when she was just a scared little kid. “You’ll treat me just like you do Simon.”

“I treat him just like I treat anyone else, what are you talking about?”

“And that’s your problem,” she said, a bit louder, to make sure Amber heard. “You think so highly of yourself that all you do is treat the rest of us like dirt. You know what, I’m not going to let myself be treated like this anymore. I’m leaving.” She reached for the door handle, running outside and letting it slam behind her. The snow was slippery beneath her feet, and of course the laces on her boots weren’t tied and she wasn’t looking down to realize, and down she fell, the cold from the snow on the ground seeping into her face.

“It doesn’t matter how you feel about her,” her mother said. “Or any of your other ‘friends’. Do you really think any of them will want to be around you, knowing that you abandoned your own family?”

She lifted her face up out of the snow and saw a shadow of a car in front of her, headlights a warm yellow against the snow. _Amira._ “You have no right to say that to me,” Gabriel said, a flame of courage rising up. “You only see people as tools, so you murdered a child!” She yelled as loud as possible, knowing that there were security drones around that should pick it up.

“Gabriel! What are you doing? Obey! That’s an order!”

Lightning flashed, and then she saw a figure next to the car. _Noah?!_ He walked towards her, kneeling down to offer her a hand. She accepted, letting him pull her up and guide her to his car.

He was silent as she stared out the window at the place she’d called home for eighteen years. Just as it was almost out of sight, she saw a figure emerge from the doorway in an almost confused manner. _Simon? No, it doesn’t matter – he’s under her control. I can’t trust him._

The car turned the corner, the light from the headlights reflecting off the street sign. _I guess this is goodbye to Lafayette Avenue._

“Gabriel,” Noah said.

She finally turned to look at him. He looked a little different from how she remembered – his once-cropped brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a scruffy beard had taken over his face. Under his eye were three dots. “That from prison?”

He put a hand to his face, his thick eyebrows furrowed as he thought. “Yeah,” he said, apparently realizing what she was talking about.

“We’re going to… your apartment, right?” she asked, remembering that conversation from what must’ve been months ago. It felt like another lifetime, one where she actually had a home, where she got to sit and eat at the table she’d played under with Noah as kids, where she didn’t fail Amber.

He made a sound of agreement. “My parents are basically letting me do whatever I want, as long as they can just keep sending me money without acknowledging that I exist, and keep an eye on where I go through this.”

It was then that she realized they were in a self-driving car. _He wouldn’t have any way of knowing… I have to get us out of this._

Gabriel patted her pocket before remembering she didn’t have her phone. _She took it on purpose. She didn’t want me to be able to call for help._ Then Gabriel felt a hand run down her side to her hip, before sliding along her thigh and taking her own hand.

“Hey… are you okay?” Noah asked.

She shook her head, not knowing whether she’d start crying or screaming if she opened her mouth to speak. _Noah, I’m sorry I put your life in danger… Amber, I’m sorry you didn’t really get to know me… Karim, Aiden, Amira, I hope you get out of here safely, because right now, you’re too close to her. And as for me, if I somehow survive this…_ “It’s going to be a long winter.”


End file.
